


I Want to Know What Love Is (I Know You Can Show Me)

by Monochromehobo



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Anal Sex, Boys In Love, College roomates, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Falling In Love, Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Oral Sex, Sex, Sharing a Bed, oh my god they were roomates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-14 03:06:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17500394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Monochromehobo/pseuds/Monochromehobo
Summary: Steve thinks he’s taking a break from Hawkins when he goes away to college a few towns over, but how is he supposed to do that when local asshole Billy Hargrove turns out to be his room mate? He begs his RA to help him get a different room mate, but it looks like he's stuck. It’s Steve’s worst case scenario until one night Billy crawls into his bed and nothing is the same.





	I Want to Know What Love Is (I Know You Can Show Me)

**Author's Note:**

> My first Harringrove fan fiction! Cross-posted on Tumblr under the same user name.
> 
> Takes place in the late 80's (1987 is when they move away to college). They live in a suite style dorm with two rooms and a living area.

Steve thought that going away to college might be good for him. Get away from where it all happened, forget about demidogs and conspiracies, and Nancy and John and Billy. Figure out who he is far enough away not to worry, but close enough to race back to Hawkins if any problems arose. 

When move in day came Dustin cried for the whole two hour drive to take his stuff to the dorms and the whole two hour trip back to Hawkins to drop him off. “Dustin, I’ll be back in a few days buddy,” Steve laid a firm hand on his shoulder. 

He eventually got Dustin to let go long enough for them to exchange a tearful goodbye as he got back into the car to leave Hawkins once again. He watched his friend get smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. ‘He’ll be fine. He’s got his friends,’ he repeated the mantra to himself until he could focus on college again. Dustin could pick up a phone and call him whenever he wanted. 

Steve’s mind drifted as he tapped along to whatever buzzed through the radio static. He imagined his room mate would be there by the time he got back, maybe Steve would buy the guy a pizza and make friends. They would be stuck together for the whole semester after all. Steve was looking forward to meeting new people and figured making friends with your roommate was a good start. 

Steve rested the box he had been carrying on his hip as he unlocked the door and pushed it open. He looked around, a few open cardboard boxes scattered about the living room let him know his room mate had arrived. ‘Shit I hope he’s not this messy all the time,’ Steve thought with a huff. He shook his head and yelled out a tentative hello. He could hear his room mate shuffle around and walk toward the living area. 

Shocked, he dropped the box to the floor breaking two expensive bottles of cologne in the process. 

“Am I dreaming or is that you Harrington?” 

Shit. Fuck. Absolutely not. Steve snapped his jaw up off the floor responding with the same words he had the night Billy had punch his lights out at the Byer’s. “Yeah it’s me don’t cream your pants.” If he and Billy hadn’t shook hands and ‘made up’ on the kids behalf he would have screamed right then and there. “What are you doing here amigo?” He asked, stealing Billy’s line. 

Billy smirked, licking his bottom lip, “Same thing you are Harrington. You know Max said you were going to college too, she just didn’t say where. I guess little Stevie just couldn’t stay away from me.” Billy crossed his arms chuckling, “You know, when I said ‘plenty of bitches in the sea’ I didn’t mean me.” He laughed uncomfortably long at his own joke before turning back to his room and adding, “Better clean up that cologne, it’s already starting to smell like the Hawkins High locker room in here.”

 

Steve brought the box downstairs and tossed the whole thing in the dumpster, shouting curses as he threw it over the side. “Mind your own business,” he snapped at a group of girls passing by. 

He went straight to his RA’s office and begged for nearly an hour to be reassigned to a different dorm. “Come on man. He’s hit me with a plate! A plate!” Steve pleaded, close to getting on his knees and begging.

“And yet, that didn’t happen on campus. Unless you can find someone to switch rooms with you unfortunately you’re stuck with him until at least next semester. All of our available dorm rooms are full and you’re lucky you got on campus housing at all,” the RA merely glanced up at Steve through his thick rimmed glasses before returning to his paper work. “Ask around and see if anyone is willing to switch.”

And boy did Steve ask. He asked people in the laundry room, he asked people in the common rooms, he even offered a guy a hundred dollar bill to switch with him. Not only did he still have to room with Billy, now he had a reputation as the resident weirdo.

He returned to his dorm room defeated, only to find Billy gone. He hoped and prayed Billy had been hit by a car in the parking lot or gotten expelled already. 

His prayers were not answered. The main door opened and he heard Billy mutter something under his breathe. Steve punched straight through his pillow and into the hard wood headboard underneath, he shook out his hand biting his lip to keep from yelping in pain. Billy didn’t look too pleased about the situation either, probably having just come from the RA’s office as well.

 

Billy slammed his door closed, after a few minutes Aerosmith’s new album ‘Permanent Vacation’ could be heard blaring through the thin walls. He hoped the advisor would let it slide this time as it was only move in day. A visit from the RA was the last thing Billy needed right now. He slammed a fist into his desk feeling the ache in his hand. At least he was away from Neil. Anything was better than living with Neil. He’d just have to make it work with Harrington for now. 

He opened one of the boxes, taking out a photo and setting it on his nightstand. He tried to convince himself this wouldn’t be so bad; that maybe he and Harrington could come to a truce and he could live in some kind of peace for once. 

It seemed his prayers were answered when Steve knocked on his bedroom door holding two hot slices of pizza. “Listen Hargrove. I don’t like this situation any more than you do. It’s shit. Let’s just be honest here, but it looks like we’re stuck here for at least this semester so let’s try our best not to kill each other,” Steve spoke quickly, handing Billy a slice of pizza before darting back into his room. 

Billy could live with that. 

 

A few days went by without major incident, but Steve wasn’t going to let his guard down so easily. He still locked his room every time he left the dorm and kept a fine eye on Billy. 

Other than his room situation Steve’s first few weeks of college went flawlessly. Everyone seemed to have forgotten about Steve’s strange behavior by the time classes had started. Dustin called almost twice a day to ‘check up on him’ the first week, but the calls lessened to once a day after. The first weekend he went home the kids were shocked to find out he was forced to room with Billy, but the shocked looks soon devolved into giggles as Steve explained his struggles trying to get moved to a different room. 

 

“Billy hasn’t called home once yet,” Max informed him the third weekend he came back to Hawkins. Steve shook his head, confused. 

“He’s probably just busy,” Steve said piling the kids in the car to go get ice cream. “Don’t you hate him any ways?”

“He kind of grows on you,” She shrugged, pulling her hair out from under the seatbelt. 

“How’s high school treating you guys?”

“Same ole’ Hawkins, minus the conspiracy stuff,” Mike reached over the center console to give something to Dustin.

“It’s been fucking boring Mike, don’t lie to the man,” Dustin grumbled, grabbing the folded up piece of paper. “The most exciting thing to happen to us since last weekend is this home-brew monster we made for our next Dungeons and Dragons campaign,” He shielded the paper from the others in the back seat as he showed the character sheet to Steve. 

 

When Steve returned to the dorms he found Billy gently snoring on the sofa, a pair of tortoiseshell glasses perched on the end of his nose and a copy of Steven King’s IT laid on the ground under his limp hand. Steve laughed under his breathe and briefly considered snapping a polaroid of him. “Hargrove,” Billy snapped awake, ripping the glasses from his face. “Max wants you to call home,” Steve said, giving Billy a curt nod before retreating to his room. 

 

That night Steve sat in bed listening to Jump by Van Halen crackle through the radio. He smiled thinking about how much Dustin loved this song. Steve pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket, lighting one and taking a long drag. He settled back onto his bed, nodding his head along gently to the beat. He was looking over at his desk, contemplating starting his homework for this week when Billy knocked on the door and stuck his head in. 

“I called home, Harrington. You’re welcome.” Billy exited as soon as he had entered, leaving Steve to sit back, finish his cigarette, and wonder what the hell just happened.


End file.
